Illinois Parenting Plan
An Illinois parenting plan allocates parental responsibilities, parenting time and significant decision-making, and Illinois requires a proposed plan filed within 120 days. Attorney review available.
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Introduction
A parenting plan is the written document Illinois parents use to allocate parental responsibilities, meaning parenting time and significant decision-making for a child, whether they are divorcing, were never married, or are changing an existing allocation. Illinois no longer uses the word custody. Instead it uses allocation of parental responsibilities, which means both parenting time and significant decision-making with respect to a child. Parenting time is the time a parent is responsible for exercising caretaking functions, and significant decision-making is deciding issues of long-term importance in the child's life, such as education, health, religion, and extracurricular activities. In Illinois a parenting plan is a written agreement, signed by both parents, that allocates significant decision-making, parenting time, or both (750 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/600). Illinois requires action: all parents must file a proposed parenting plan, jointly or separately, within 120 days after a petition for allocation of parental responsibilities is served or filed, and the court will order mediation to help the parents formulate the plan unless it finds an impediment (750 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/602.10). The court decides parenting time and decision-making by the best interests of the child (750 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/602.5 and 5/602.7). DocDraft builds your Illinois parenting plan from your family's schedule, with attorney review available before you submit it to the court.
Key Things to Know
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A parenting plan is a written document that allocates parenting time and significant decision-making for a child, used by Illinois parents who are divorcing, were never married, or are changing an existing allocation.
- 2
Illinois abolished the word custody and uses allocation of parental responsibilities, which means both parenting time and significant decision-making (750 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/600).
- 3
In Illinois a parenting plan is a written agreement, signed by both parents, that allocates significant decision-making, parenting time, or both (750 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/600).
- 4
Illinois requires all parents to file a proposed parenting plan, jointly or separately, within 120 days after a petition for allocation of parental responsibilities is served or filed (750 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/602.10(a)).
- 5
An Illinois parenting plan must, at a minimum, allocate significant decision-making, set the child's living arrangements and each parent's parenting time, include a mediation provision, and give each parent access to the child's medical and school records (750 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/602.10(f)).
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The Illinois court shall order mediation to help the parents formulate or modify the parenting plan unless the court determines that impediments to mediation exist (750 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/602.10(c)).
- 7
Illinois decides parenting time and significant decision-making by the best interests of the child, and an agreed plan binds the court unless the court finds it is not in the child's best interests (750 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/602.5, 5/602.7, and 5/602.10(d)).
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Parenting Plan in Illinois, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Parenting Plan guide walks through them.
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Illinois Requirements for Parenting Plan
Allocation of Parental Responsibilities
Illinois abolished the word custody and uses allocation of parental responsibilities, which means both parenting time and significant decision-making with respect to a child. A parenting plan is a written agreement that allocates significant decision-making, parenting time, or both (750 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/600).
Parenting Time and Significant Decision-Making
Parenting time is the time a parent exercises caretaking functions, and significant decision-making is deciding issues of long-term importance in the child's life. Illinois allocates decision-making under 750 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/602.5 and parenting time under 5/602.7, in each case by the best interests of the child.
Proposed Plan Required Within 120 Days
In Illinois all parents must file a proposed parenting plan with the court, jointly or separately, within 120 days after a petition for allocation of parental responsibilities is served or filed; the court may extend that period for good cause (750 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/602.10(a)). If no plan is filed, the court holds an evidentiary hearing to allocate responsibilities.
Written and Signed by Both Parents
An Illinois parenting plan must be in writing and signed by both parents (750 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/602.10(d)). When the parents agree, their plan binds the court unless the court finds it is not in the child's best interests, in which case the court makes express findings of its reasons for refusing to approve the plan.
Minimum Contents of the Plan
At a minimum, an Illinois parenting plan must set forth an allocation of significant decision-making; the child's living arrangements and each parent's parenting time; a mediation provision for future changes; each parent's right of access to medical, dental, psychological, child-care, and school records; and a designation of the parent with the majority of parenting time (750 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/602.10(f)).
Court-Ordered Mediation
In Illinois the court shall order mediation to assist the parents in formulating, modifying, or implementing a parenting plan unless the court determines that impediments to mediation exist (750 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/602.10(c)). Mediation helps the parents reach an agreed plan before the court decides contested issues.
Sixty-Day Relocation Notice
An Illinois parenting plan must require a parent who intends to change residence to give at least 60 days prior written notice to the other parent under the plan, unless that notice is impracticable or the court orders otherwise (750 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/602.10(f)). The notice states the intended date and address of the change.
Best Interests and Court Approval
Illinois decides parenting time and significant decision-making by the best interests of the child, and the court seeks a plan that maximizes the child's relationship and access to both parents (750 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/602.10(g)). Once approved or entered, the parenting plan or allocation judgment is final for purposes of modification or appeal.